LinkedIn has a new button for job seekers—one that adds an “Ask for a Referral,” button. The referral button is added next to the job where they know someone who works at the company that is advertising a job opening. Referrals are not exactly something new when it comes to getting a new job. As a matter of fact, many job seekers find get to know about an advertised position in a company via referrals. The feature only works very well if you already have an inside source [a friend or someone you know working in the company you wish to apply for a job in]. Here is how it works: Tap the “Ask for a referral” button at the top of the job listing, and select the person you would like to reach out to. LinkedIn will help you write your request by suggesting a pre-populated message. Better still, you can personalize your message to make it look unique and standout from the rest. Consider using the following three tips provided by LinkedIn as your guide when personalizing or writing your message. Remind them how they know you. Jog their memory of where you met if you haven’t been in touch recently. Call out things you have in common, like if you went to the same school. Share why you’re a good fit. Include why you’d be a good fit for the job, including your skills and relevant experience. This will make it easier for the person you know to recommend you to the hiring manager or recruiter. Highlight why you’re interested. Stand out by telling them why you’re interested in this role. This can be anything from being a fan of the company’s product or service to wanting to move to the city their office is located in. Of course, replying to your message is at the recipient’s discretion—he or she might choose to reply or not to. There is even more—LinkedIn has made it easier for you to see those jobs where you have someone already working within the organization. This is possible through the new job search filter to find those jobs within your network. If you like, you can combine this new filter along with others like location, industry, and many more. This will help you narrow down on the exact position you may...

Microsoft has released an optimized version of Skype designed for Android devices 4.0.3 to 5.1. In the next couple of days, Skype light will become available globally to everyone using version 4.0.3 to 5.1 of the Android operating system The optimized version of the face-to-face chat app is light on both disk and memory consumption. What that means is that your device will now be faster, with improved video and audio calling. Skype users in areas where internet connection is erratic can now access the app without the usual restriction associated with the main version of the app. It means increased opportunity for the Microsoft-owned app to rise above its current slow growth. Skype light is long overdue considering how other apps had previously launched lighter version of their apps. Messenger and Twitter for instance do have lighter versions of their apps. Same goes for Instagram that can be accessed by users offline. That said, we hope Skype can build on this and get its service back on track. Yesterday, Skype launched a new feature called Gallery. Gallery was added to Windows 10 version of the app, and helps you to easily retrieve shared content including media, links, and files. The Gallery pane shows all shared content from the beginning of the chat. What that means is that you can quickly find a picture you shared in the recent past, or better still, a link sent by a contact to you in the chat. To filter a content in the Gallery, all you need to do is click the “All” drop-down and select Media, Links, or Files. For example, “you can filter by Media to group images—making it easy to save them to a folder and create a photo gallery.” To display what you want done with the content, simply right-click an item to display. You can copy or save an image, copy or save forward a link or file, or if you like, remove content from the chat. You can also select View in Chat to jump back to the content in the conversation. In 2017, Skype rolled out a new and attractive design for its desktop version. The version for desktop comes with several changes including, colorful design, in-group conversations, cross-device functionality, cloud-based ability to make easier to share files, photos, and videos, and chat list. Skype...

LinkedIn has a new button for job seekers—one that adds an “Ask for a Referral,” button. The referral button is added next to the job where they know someone who works at the company that is advertising a job opening. Referrals are not exactly something new when it comes to getting a new job. As a matter of fact, many job seekers find get to know about an advertised position in a company via referrals. The feature only works very well...

Microsoft has released an optimized version of Skype designed for Android devices 4.0.3 to 5.1. In the next couple of days, Skype light will become available globally to everyone using version 4.0.3 to 5.1 of the Android operating system The optimized version of the face-to-face chat app is light on both disk and memory consumption. What that means is that your device will now be faster, with improved video and audio calling. Skype...

Following the successful launch of its AI-powered free app for the blind “Seeing AI” at the middle of last year, Microsoft is once again launching another app for the blind. Soundscape has been an app in the making—it actually took the company a couple of years to put it together. The aim of the new app is to guide individuals with vision impairment around cities. Soundscape according to Microsoft, will only be available to users in...

Skype added a new Gallery feature to the Windows 10 version of its app—and its something you want to take a look at. The new feature helps you to easily retrieve shared content including media, links, and files. The Gallery pane shows all shared content from the beginning of the chat. What that means is that you can quickly find a picture you shared in the recent past, or better still, a link sent by a contact to you in the chat. To...

Wasn’t a long time ago Microsoft replaced Skype for Business with Teams—September to be precise. Five months down the lane, Microsoft has rolled out some exciting new features to enable users achieve more with the app. Teams was first announced back in November 2016, with only a handful of users able to access it at the time. It was and still is the biggest threat to Slack despite being less than a year in existence. Today, Microsoft...

Skype Microsoft’s owned video calling and chat app Skype is testing its own version of end-to-end encryption feature. In conjunction with Signal, the new encryption feature will make private conversation between users secure. “With hundreds of millions of active users, Skype is one of the most popular applications in the world, and we’re excited that Private Conversations in Skype will allow more users to take advantage of Signal...